President-elect Donald Trump will face significant hurdles to enacting his campaign pledge to ban transgender youth from participating in school sports that align with their gender identity. (Photo by Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump repeatedly said during the campaign that, if elected back to the White House, he would pursue a ban on transgender youth participating in school sports that align with their gender identity.

As he prepares to take office in January, experts and LGBTQ+ advocates told States Newsroom the effort would face significant delays and challenges as legal pushback from LGBTQ+ advocacy groups can be expected every step of the way.

Trump’s repeated vow to “keep men out of women’s sports” reflects his broader anti-trans agenda. Administration efforts would come as an increasing number of states have passed laws banning trans students from participating in sports that align with their gender identity.

The Trump-Vance transition team did not offer any concrete details when asked about specifics but shared a statement from spokesperson Karoline Leavitt.

“The American people re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail,” Leavitt wrote. “He will deliver.”

Reversing the final rule for Title IX

The U.S. Education Department, under President Joe Biden, released updated regulations to Title IX in April that strengthen federal protections for LGBTQ+ students. The final rule does not explicitly reference trans athletes’ sports participation — a separate decision the administration put on hold.

The Education Department late Friday said it was withdrawing a proposed rule that would have allowed schools to block some transgender athletes from competing on sports teams that match their gender identities while also preventing across-the-board bans.

Title IX is a landmark federal civil rights law that bars schools that receive federal funding from sex-based discrimination.

The president-elect has pledged, while speaking about trans students’ sports participation, to reverse the Biden administration’s final rule for Title IX on his first day back in office.

The Biden administration’s final rule was met with forceful pushback from GOP attorneys general. A series of legal challenges in states across the country have created a policy patchwork of the final rule and weakened the Biden administration’s vision for enforcement. 

But if Trump were to try to reverse the final rule, experts say the effort would take an extended period and require adherence to the rulemaking process outlined in the Administrative Procedure Act, or APA.

The APA rules how federal agencies propose and roll out regulations. That process can take months, creating a barrier for a president seeking to undo a prior administration’s rule.

Cathryn Oakley, senior director of legal policy at the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group, said that while a subsequent administration can undo the current Title IX regulations, it would take “a tremendous amount of work because a regulation has the force of law … so long as the administration has complied with the APA.”

For the Trump administration to undo those regulations, it would need to start at the beginning, propose its own rules and go through the entire process.

“I think it seems fairly likely that that’s something that they’re going to pursue, but that’s not something that the president has the capability to do on day one,” she said.

Oakley noted that the updated regulations also have the force of law because they interpret a law that already exists — Title IX.

The Trump administration is “bound by Title IX, which in fact has these protections related to gender identity,” she said.

Preparing to push back

But any action from the Trump administration regarding trans athletes’ sports participation is sure to be met with legal challenges from LGBTQ+ advocacy groups.

Oakley said though “we have many real reasons to be concerned” about what the Trump administration would do when it comes to Title IX protections and in general for LGBTQ+ people, “we also need to be cautious that we do not concede anything either.”

“We need to be trying to ground ourselves in the actual legal reality that the president-elect will be facing when he comes into office and be able to fight with the tools that we have and not concede anything in advance.”

Biden rule does not address athletics

The U.S. Education Department under Biden never decided on a separate rule establishing new criteria regarding trans athletes.

Shiwali Patel, a Title IX lawyer and senior director of safe and inclusive schools at the National Women’s Law Center, said “we could see some sort of announcement about changing the Title IX rule to address athletics” under the Trump administration. 

“Given the rhetoric that has come out of the Trump administration and this continued focus on trans athletes, I think we very well should and could expect to see something from the Trump administration on this, which is very harmful,” Patel told States Newsroom.

The Trump administration could also try to pursue a national ban via legislation in Congress.

The U.S. House approved a bill last year that would prohibit trans athletes from competing in sports that align with their gender identity. And in July, the chamber passed a measure that would reverse Biden’s final rule for Title IX.

But Patel said she could not see how any measure in Congress could get through the U.S. Senate’s filibuster, which requires at least 60 votes to pass most legislation. There will be 45 Democratic senators in the incoming Congress, though independent Sens. Angus King of Maine and Bernie Sanders of Vermont caucus with the Democrats.

Despite Washington soon entering a GOP trifecta in the U.S. House, Senate and White House, narrow margins could hinder any potential anti-trans legislation from the Trump administration. 

Broader anti-trans legislation

Across the country, 25 states have enacted a law that bans trans students from participating in sports that align with their gender identity, according to the Movement Advancement Project, or MAP, an independent think tank.

Logan Casey, director of policy research at MAP, said proponents of these sports bans are using them as a starting point to enact a broader anti-trans agenda.

“In many cases, these sports bans have been one of the first anti-trans laws enacted in recent years in many states, but then states that enact one of these sports bans then go on to enact additional anti-trans or anti-LGBTQ laws,” Casey told States Newsroom.

Casey described any controversy around trans people playing sports as “entirely manufactured.”

“In just five years, we’ve gone from zero states to more than half the country having one of these bans on the books, and that’s really, really fast in the policy world,” he said.

In March 2020, Idaho became the first state to enact this type of ban. 

Lincoln Hills, a detention facility the state had ordered closed by 2021. (Photo courtesy of the Wisconsin Department of Corrections)

When Randy Forsterling went to the Lincoln Hills juvenile prison at 16, he learned skills he still uses today, he told the Examiner. 

“I’m a machine operator,” Forsterling said. “I die cast, I make transmission casings and engine blocks for one of the largest corporations in the world. A lot of the metallurgy that I learned when I was in the foundry in Lincoln Hills, I use it now — 25 years later.” 

While Forsterling doesn’t believe Lincoln Hills still has a foundry, a Wisconsin initiative is aiming to better prepare incarcerated youth with disabilities for the workforce. 

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction released a statement about a collaboration with the Departments of Corrections and Workforce Development that is “the first of its kind in Wisconsin.” 

“By providing these young individuals with the guidance, education and opportunities they need, we empower them to break the cycle and contribute positively to society,” State Superintendent Jill Underly said in the statement. “Supporting these kids is not only a step toward healing, it is an investment in their future and will save future taxpayer expenses.” 

The U.S. Department of Education awarded the DPI a 5-year, $10 million grant. The program aims to help youth with disabilities transition from correctional facilities into their communities, according to a DPI statement released in September. Funds will also be used for work rehabilitation training and for dyslexia screening for all youth during intake at state correctional facilities.

The project provides three different levels of support, with some youth falling into more than one level. 

The program intends to support all justice-involved youth with disabilities and the adults who care about them, according to an abstract on the federal Rehabilitation Services Administration’s website. They will receive support through social media campaigns and an app-based reentry toolkit. This is the broadest level of support, for 8,000 participants, the abstract says. 

The second level will support a “targeted group” of students made up of Wisconsin youth under 18 in state correctional facilities. This level involves dyslexia screening and “related intervention services” and is for 1,500 participants. 

The smallest group will receive the highest level of care, or intensive supports, the abstract says. These are students “most marginalized at the intersection of disability and justice and, often, race.” They will receive care under a model that is “trauma-informed, community-based” and facilitated by mentors. This level is for 250 participants, who will begin receiving care while incarcerated. 

Young people have a higher risk of returning to incarceration in Wisconsin 

The Department of Public Instruction’s statement compared youth to older age groups for a three-year period after release, citing an August 2021 DOC report. The report found that for a 2016 cohort, 20-24 year-olds were reincarcerated about twice as often as people aged 45 or older. 

According to the DOC’s website, of 45 people aged 19 and younger released in 2020, 33 were reincarcerated in Wisconsin within three years after release due to a new sentence or a revocation. This data is based only on readmissions to DOC prisons, so it wouldn’t include reincarceration in another state. 

Forsterling said he committed crimes when he was 20 and went into adult prison at 21; he was released to extended supervision last year. He hopes the program will take the experiences of formerly incarcerated people and staff into account. 

Good job training is important for getting a good job, Forsterling said, which helps people avoid a desperate situation that may lead to a return to crime. 

“And that’s where mentors come in very handy,” he said. 

Forsterling said he received helpful mentoring at Lincoln Hills. He mentors and supports several friends who are still incarcerated. 

Cost to incarcerate per child rises as enrollment falls 

The cost of incarceration at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake has “ballooned” to nearly $463,000 per child per year, as enrollment has “plummeted,” Wisconsin Watch and Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service reported last week. Fewer youth means fixed infrastructure and staffing costs are spread across fewer individuals. 

A new Department of Corrections budget request would nearly double that amount, they reported. That would raise the cost to 58 times what taxpayers spend on the average K-12 public school student. 

Wisconsin’s Division of Juvenile Corrections had a population of 81 people as of a monthly report for September, including 40 at Lincoln Hills and 14 at Copper Lake. The campus was designed for more than 500 youth, the news organizations reported. 

The juvenile prisons, which have been troubled for many years and are slated for closure, received renewed scrutiny after youth counselor Corey Proulx died from injuries received in an assault in late June. Lawmakers on the 2023 Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety heard testimony about safety concerns at a hearing in August. 

The DOC is under a court-ordered consent decree mandating changes at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake after a 2018 lawsuit challenged practices such as the use of pepper spray and punitive solitary confinement. 

The DPI received the grant to assist minors with disabilities as part of the U.S. Department of Education’s Disability Innovation Fund program. The program seeks to ensure people with disabilities receive “in-demand, good-paying jobs.” Out of over 800 organizations, Wisconsin was one of 27 projects to receive the grant.

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Farm Foundation and National 4-H Council recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a focus on a deeper collaboration in leadership, education and youth workforce readiness for young people who seek careers in food and agriculture.

The organizations’ current partnership on the Farm Family Wellness Alliance (FFWA)  provides free access to mental health and wellness services to farm families across the United States, including youth ages 16 and up. Now, the two organizations will align on career exploration, leadership training and skill-building opportunities for youth through Farm Foundation’s Next Generation programs and 4-H’s recently launched Beyond Ready initiative. This collaboration will help strengthen young learners’ interest in food and agriculture career pathways as early as elementary school. Additionally, it will help create a ready pipeline of future leaders as they graduate high school and college.

“Farm Foundation looks forward to closer collaboration with 4-H, which has already been such a wonderful partner in working towards practical solutions for agriculture,” said Shari Rogge-Fidler, president and CEO, Farm Foundation. “There are so many synergies between our two organizations that will lead to a natural multiplier effect in our ability to accelerate young people in their paths into food and agriculture. It is an exciting moment for Farm Foundation, and we look forward to a fruitful and valuable partnership.”

“The extended partnership with Farm Foundation further strengthens our ability to prepare young people for success in agriculture, food science and beyond. Building on the positive impact of the Farm Family Wellness Alliance, our enhanced collaboration will equip youth with the leadership, skills and confidence they need to be Beyond Ready for the workforce of tomorrow,” said Jill Bramble, president and CEO, National 4-H Council.

Farm Foundation
Naomi Millán
Marketing and Communications Manager
naomi@farmfoundation.org

National 4-H Council
Yolanda Stephen
Senior Manager, Public Relations
YStephen@fourhcouncil.edu

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About Farm Foundation:
Farm Foundation® has accelerated practical solutions for agriculture for over 90 years. Farm Foundation’s mission is to build trust and understanding at the intersections of agriculture and society. This is accomplished by leveraging non‐partisan objective dialogue, information, and training, catalyzing solutions, and creating multi‐stakeholder collaboration. Farm Foundation’s vision is to build a future for farmers, our communities, and our world. For more information, visit farmfoundation.org.  

About National 4-H Council:
4-H, the nation’s largest youth development organization, grows confident young people who are empowered for life today and prepared for careers tomorrow. 4-H programs empower nearly six million young people across the U.S. through experiences that develop critical life skills. Through Beyond Ready, 4-H will increase that number to ten million youth annually. 4-H is the youth development program of our nation’s Cooperative Extension System and USDA and serves every county and parish in the U.S. through a network of 110 public universities and more than 3,000 local Extension offices. Globally, 4-H collaborates with independent programs to empower one million youth in 50 countries. The research-backed 4-H experience grows young people who are four times more likely to contribute to their communities; two times more likely to make healthier choices; two times more likely to be civically active; and two times more likely to participate in STEM programs.

Learn more about 4‑H at 4-H.org and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. 

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